When I’m sat in a pub sipping cider or wine, the one thing that always catches my eye as a waiter comes out with food is a good burger. When I see a burger topped high with a portion of chips and onion rings on the side, I can’t deny, I really wish I didn’t have to follow a gluten free diet. Of course, they are easy enough to make yourself at home, but to me, when I think back to when I could eat normally, the sight of a fresh, homemade burger coming at you was pure bliss.
On a recent trip to North Devon at Easter, me and my family stayed in a little village named Appledore. Prior to going, I had turned to Twitter to investigate what restaurants were out there offering gluten free, and the Beaver Inn tweeted back to tell me that they could cater for my needs – and as it was on my door step, it would be rude not to try it out.
The little pub over-looks the estuary and would be lovely on a sunny day sitting out in the beer garden round the back. The staff were all really friendly and accommodating towards my needs. Upon arriving, the waitress took a note of things off the menu which I would like to eat and went off to ask the chef which dishes he could incorporate into gluten free.
Of course, some things were entirely off limits, but I was really pleased when she came back telling me that I could have the pork belly for starter with crispy pancetta, and a chicken burger, seasoned with paprika on a gluten free cob with chips and salad for mains. In a normal pub which doesn’t specialise in catering for people with allergies and intolerances, this is something quite special.
The portion size was huge and I had that same feeling I used to get when I was a kid when a huge burger came towards me, I suddenly felt like I could eat a horse. I couldn’t have the pork belly with apple sauce, but it was really enjoyable to be able to eat a starter along with everyone else, whilst the burger was truly delicious – the cob it was in tasted really fresh and unlike any of the supermarket brought brands I have ever tasted, in fact I’m not sure but to me it tasted like it had been freshly baked that day which was a bonus.
Overall, I would really recommend this pub to anyone staying in the local area. I didn’t feel like a nuisance when telling the staff about what I couldn’t eat, and they couldn’t have been more accommodating towards my needs.
Overall, the food was very reasonably priced, was proper tasty pub grub and the staff were really friendly – Ten out of ten to the Beaver Inn in Appledore.
Tummy Happy 